Connect with us

Tennessee

Former Michigan Miss Basketball winner kicked off Tennessee team

Published

on

Former Michigan Miss Basketball winner kicked off Tennessee team


Knoxville, Tenn. – Tennessee coach Kim Caldwell announced Sunday that she has dismissed senior guard Ruby Whitehorn from the eighth-ranked Lady Vols, saying it was her responsibility to protect the program’s high standards.

Whitehorn played for Detroit Edison and won the Michigan Miss Basketball award in 2022.

“In light of recent events, Ruby has been unable to reflect those standards, and I have made the difficult decision to dismiss her from our team,” Caldwell said in a statement. “I love Ruby and will always be rooting for her, but my priority is to uphold the respected reputation of the Lady Vols.”

Advertisement

Whitehorn had been allowed back on the team following a suspension for an August arrest. She pleaded guilty Sept. 5 to two misdemeanors of aggravated trespassing and aggravated burglary in exchange for judicial diversion after the Aug. 8 altercation. Her record can be expunged after a year.

The 6-foot player was arrested after what police said was an incident at a woman’s residence where Whitehorn kicked in a front door and bedroom door. Whitehorn reportedly told officers she was getting her property back after the woman took her phone and passport and then locked the door.

Whitehorn then reportedly was stopped early on Oct. 30 by campus police who found her in possession of marijuana. She was charged with misdemeanor simple possession/casual exchange.

The Lady Vols open the season Tuesday night at No. 9 N.C. State.

Whitehorn started 28 of 34 games last season for the Lady Vols and ranked fourth on the team in scoring, averaging 11.6 points. She began her career at Clemson, where she started 62 of 66 games.

Advertisement

She helped Tennessee go 24-10 in coach Caldwell’s debut season. The Lady Vols lost to Texas in the Sweet 16 of the women’s NCAA Tournament.



Source link

Tennessee

Titans QB Cam Ward Talks Past, Present and Future

Published

on

Titans QB Cam Ward Talks Past, Present and Future


NASHVILLE – Cam Ward discussed the past, present and the future on Wednesday.

During his regularly scheduled session with reporters, the Titans quarterback also discussed what it’s been like handling the pressure of being the number one pick and the face of the franchise.

“I just wake up and go about my business, honestly,” Ward said. “I don’t really see no pressure. I mean, I get to do something every day that I like to do. I’m going to always remember the hard times that I went through my rookie year. I’ll remember the good plays that I made in my rookie year. I’ll remember how many reporters came to report on the team one year. And I’ll remember in the next couple of years when there’s a lot more reporters out here trying to get footage on us.

“You’ve just got to continue to take your day by day process. We continue to feed into each other as the locker room, continue to give emphasis on the coaching staff, what we’re looking for ahead. And we’re ready to turn it back around.”

Advertisement

In 14 starts this season, Ward has thrown for 2,638 yards with 11 touchdown passes and seven interceptions.

He needs just 181 pass yards to break Marcus Mariota’s Tennessee record with 2,818 passing yards (in 2015).

Ward has shown improvement in recent weeks – he has back-to-back games with two touchdown passes (zero such games in his first 12 starts) and this past Sunday was his first career game without taking a sack (3.8 sacks per game in Weeks 1-14).

Ward discussed some of the highs and lows of his rookie season.

Ward said he feels like he hasn’t had his signature game yet while saying “I don’t think I’ll ever have a signature game in my career, honestly.”

Advertisement

“Every game there’s going to be some bad tape,” he said. “Whether it’s one play, two plays, from myself or another teammate. So I don’t really try to chase having a perfect game. I try to just chase having a good play every play. Because at the end of the day, I’m going to have a bad play. I’m going to throw another interception. I’m going to fumble the ball again at some point in my career. So the more I can continue to stress myself, limit the little bad plays and just continue to build on what I already know, what I’m good at, and then just continue to put the ball in space to my playmakers, I think that will serve me better in the long term.”

The Titans face the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, and after that the team has games left vs the Saints and Jaguars.

Ward knows there will be changes on the horizon, including the team naming a new head coach for 2026.

Ward on Wednesday was asked if he wants to meet the head coaching candidates during the process.

He said he’s actually talked to Mike Borgonzi and Chad Brinker about the process.

Advertisement

“I want to meet all of them,” Ward said. “Every coach who’s going to get the opportunity to come here, I want to meet them, have conversations throughout the whole process with them because that’s someone that I’m going to be here with for that time. So, we got to just continue to — me being around and being open to it no matter whoever we try to hire because I know at the end of the day who we do hire is going to be the right fit for us. Whether it’s a defensive person or an offensive person, they’re going to make sure that every person is in the right place, and make sure every person is set up for success.

“Yeah, I have had a conversation with them about wanting to be involved. They know how much I want to be involved. And then especially just not even with the scheme part of it just as the head coach who he is on a everyday basis. And then, we’ll get into the scheme what I know I’m good at, what I want do, what he thinks will also help me.”



Source link

Continue Reading

Tennessee

Tennessee football QB Jake Merklinger plans to enter transfer portal

Published

on

Tennessee football QB Jake Merklinger plans to enter transfer portal


Tennessee quarterback Jake Merklinger plans to enter the transfer portal, Knox News has confirmed.

On3.com and Rivals.com were the first to report Merklinger’s decision. The transfer portal opens on Jan. 2.

Merklinger has also opted out of the Music City Bowl. No. 23 Tennessee (8-4) plays Illinois (8-4) on Dec. 30 (5:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) in Nashville. Starter Joey Aguilar will play in the bowl game, so Merklinger was not expected to be a factor. Freshman George MacIntyre will serve as the backup.

Advertisement

Merklinger spent two seasons at Tennessee but barely played and failed to win the starting job. He played six games and went 19-of-33 passing for 221 yards and two touchdowns.

In 2024, Merklinger was a third-string freshman when Nico Iamaleava started. In 2025, he competed for the starting job but lost to transfer Joey Aguilar.

By the end of the 2025 season, Merklinger was neck and neck with freshman George MacIntyre for the backup job. And it didn’t appear that Merklinger would factor in the starting job in 2026.

Merklinger, a native of Savannah, Georgia, was a four-star recruit in the 2024 class. He has three seasons of eligibility remaining.

Advertisement

Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.

Get the latest news and insight on SEC football by subscribing to the SEC Unfiltered newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox.





Source link

Continue Reading

Tennessee

Seedy K’s GameCap: Tennessee

Published

on

Seedy K’s GameCap: Tennessee


When you have two legitimate Top 20 teams testing each other, it’s never inevitable.

But this U of L task in Knoxville against tall favorite Tennessee sure seemed close to that heading in.

Well coached top level foe at its sold out home.

One whose strength — inside scoring and rebounding — made it a bad matchup for the Cards, whose lack of inside depth and strength has been an Achilles heel from the get go.

Advertisement

That the Vols were hungry and angry coming off three straight Ls made a U of L victory seem an almost impossible task.

Then we learned that back issue of Mikel Brown’s is a problem.

Cards were toast before tip.

It was all evident by halftime — actually well before then.

It just takes a peek at a couple statistics.

Advertisement

Tennessee led by only 7, thanks to some tough Cardinal D. And UT’s woeful FT shooting.

That inside game issue: Volunteers 28 points in the paint. Cardinals 10.

That’s right, Tennessee had more points in the paint at the break than Louisville had points total.

That lack of point guard issue: U of L had 9 FGs at intermission. Tennessee had that many assists on 15 buckets.

Louisville’s strength is depth. At least usually.

Advertisement

During the first 20 Tuesday, the Cards had zero points off the pine. Vols 22. (For the game, the disparity was 34-3. Khani Rooths hit a FT. Wild Man Zougris a garbage time slam.)

Another opening stanza reality that might have you feeling the need to clean your glasses.

Only three guys scored. Adrian Wooley with 12, Ryan Conwell with 11, and Sananda Fru with 4.

Louisville’s second half performance is not worth the bandwidth, my time to write about, nor your time to read.

The final, in a lopsided disappointing loss: 83-62.

Advertisement

There is no sugar frosting this. Against teams with major size and inside presence, Louisville has and will continue to struggle.

When your most talented player doesn’t suit up, it makes it more impossible to overcome.



Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending